Former Vice President Mike Pence says he will not be testifying before the January 6 Congressional committee, saying it "has no right" to his testimony.
During a Wednesday interview on CBS' Face The Nation, Pence told moderator Margaret Brennan that he is "closing the door" on testifying before the panel and expressed concern over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's appointment of all the members.
"But I must say again, the partisan nature of the January 6 committee has been a disappointment to me," he added. "It seemed to me in the beginning, there was an opportunity to examine every aspect of what happened on January 6, and to do so more in the spirit of the 9/11 Commission, nonpartisan, nonpolitical, and that was an opportunity lost."
While Pence previously considered an invitation to appear, he noted that it would be "unprecedented" for a vice president to testify on Capitol Hill. However, several Pence aides, including his former legal counsel Greg Jacob and former chief of staff Marc Short, have testified before the panel.
"I never stood in the way of senior members of my team cooperating with the committee and testifying," Pence told Brennan.
"But Congress has no right to my testimony," he contended. "We have a separation of powers under the Constitution of the United States. And I believe it would establish a terrible precedent for the Congress to summon a vice president of the United States to speak about deliberations that took place at the White House."
The panel is concluding its work following months of public interviews. As reported by The Hill, it will likely be disbanded since the Republican Party has retaken control of the House of Representatives.
Pence has made the media rounds this week as he released his autobiography, So Help Me God, which details his life and journey to becoming the 48th Vice President of the United States.
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Pence Won't Back Trump for 2024 GOP Nomination: 'We'll Have Better Choices'
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Astrid Stawiarz/Stringer
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
